Presentations

Seminars, Workshops and Speaking Engagements

Our sessions are entertaining and educational; have one of us present at your next event!

Back2Front offers workshops, seminars, and speaking engagements for your events and trade shows. Our speakers are experienced web professionals. They are currently working in the field, and are up-to-date with the latest web site technology and trends.

Our presentations are not sales pitches. At Back2Front, we believe that people who are well educated about web site creation and management will make better decisions about their web site, do better in business, and often become our best customers! Attendees may ask questions about our service after the presentation, and we will be happy to answer them individually as time allows at the event, or arrange to do so at a later date.

Speaking Engagements

Speaking engagements usually involve presentations lasting between fifteen minutes and one hour. They can be done with or without audiovisual equipment. Speaking engagements are usually fairly non-technical in nature, and can be tailored specifically to your group.

Workshops

Workshops are interactive presentations and require participation from the audience. Workshops last more than one hour, and are usually done with audiovisual equipment. Workshops can be more technical and offer more specific information than speaking engagements. We always take the time to answer questions from the audience. Before a workshop, we need to know the number and type of registrants in order to customize the topic and provide sufficient handouts and materials.

Presentation Topics

Topics can range from short information sessions, to detailed technical web site topics, to discussing more general business topics relating to web sites. All sessions will include some specific information about Back2Front - none will be a Back2Front sales pitch.

The 10 Biggest Web Design Mistakes: and how to avoid them

Web design is not about looking good it's about getting business results. Do you need: Leads? Sign-ups? Sales? To save printing costs? To direct customers to your store? A correctly-designed web site provides the best chance of success. But make any of the most common mistakes covered in this workshop and you will not get the best return on your investment. We examine what is good web design and why, and we will provide solid actionable instructions to avoiding the most common mistakes. This is a technical topic intended for people who either already have a web site or are seriously thinking of getting one. This workshop focuses on business web sites and is packed with information. We can deliver this as a presentation or a workshop, but it is most effective using audio-visual equipment to demonstrate visually the concepts involved.60min Speech, or 1 – 2 hour Workshop. AV optional.

Search Engine Optimization: Demystified

There is more misinformation and confusion surrounding this than any other web site topic. In this session we take a look at search engines: "who" they are, what they are, how they work, and what they want. We also examine the role of search engine optimization companies and how they try to outwit the search engines. Then we discuss how a web site owner can best navigate between the two to get the best results for the least amount of time, effort, and money.30 – 60min Speech, or 1 – 2 hour Workshop. AV optional.

Your Home Page: How to make your most important page COUNT.

The first page of your site is the most important–both for human visitors and for search engines. It is also the page where the most mistakes are made! We examine why this page is so important, how to get it right, and how to avoid the most common mistakes.30 – 60min Speech, or 1 – 2 hour Workshop. AV equipment required.

Selling on line

E-commerce is a popular term these days, but many people do not really understand what it means–both in a technical sense and how it will affect the way they do business. This topic takes a look at the many technical options available for selling on line, and what selling on line may mean for your business. Part cautionary tale, part encouragement, attendees will be armed with the information they need to decide if selling on line is right for them.30 – 60min Speech, or 1 – 2 hour Workshop. AV optional.

Developing your content: Writing for the web

Writing for the web is not the same as writing for other media. The style, formatting and organization are all treated differently on the web. All of these elements are equally important, yet often done poorly. Using the writing guidelines set out in this session (and the services of an excellent proof reader) will ensure success.30 – 40min Speech, or 1 hour Workshop. AV optional. Hard copy handouts are used.

Web site statistics: what do all those numbers really mean?

Do you know how well your web site is doing? Do you know how many people visit your web site? Do you know how to compare your statistics with those reported by other web site owners? We will examine how the numbers are recorded, which ones are useful, and how to interpret them. We will also look at how other companies report, and what questions to ask so that you can compare apple to apples. You'll learn what actions (if any) you should take based on the statistics you are achieving.30 – 40min Speech, or 1 hour Workshop. AV optional. Hard copy handouts are used.

Is Your Web Site a Navigational Nightmare?

At Back2Front we like to say, "If you need a site map you have done it wrong!" And it's no joke. How many times have you heard the claim, "Our web site is easy to navigate"? Navigation is a big deal because most web sites larger than a few pages are not easy to navigate. In this session, we explore why this element of web design is often done so poorly, and how to design effective navigation for your web site.1 – 2 hour Workshop. AV equipment required.

How to get a web site and avoid the most commonly encountered problems from the start.

Will you build your web site yourself? Hire a Designer? Contract a web site company? This topic explores your web site options and how to choose the one that's right for you. Each option has pros and cons. We'll discuss the hidden cost of doing it yourself, how to ensure that your web site will be managed properly on an ongoing basis, how to tell if a web site company is a good fit, how to get the most for your money, and how to avoid the most commonly encountered problems.30 – 40min Speech. No AV equipment required.

Your Competition: and how to make it irrelevant

This is a general business topic that uses the web industry as an example of high levels of competition. Back2Front's trials, tribulations, and eventual success demonstrate how your company can successfully compete–or, better yet, make your competition irrelevant.20 – 40min Speech. No AV equipment required.

Book your Presentation

Presentations are offered free of charge to qualified audiences. Reimbursement of expenses incurred such as mileage, parking, food, entry tickets to the event, etc. is requested.

Audience Feedback

Hi Corinne,
It was great having you November 18th, and thanks to Candace for an excellent presentation on the 10 Biggest Web Design Mistakes. You are hereby confirmed for March 24 to come back and present SEO Demystified.

– Robert Gray, Aurora Chamber of Commerce

Hi Candace, Thank you again for the wonderful job you did presenting on e-commerce for our small business community on Sept 17th. The feedback we received was all positive. It was unanimous on all feedback forms that people would recommend this program to other businesses. The one additional comment we received was "Very good. Enough info and not too technical". Sincerely,

– Becky George, Promotions and Outreach,
Pickering Public Library

Hi Candace,
That was great on April 7th! Thank you for coming and giving us a very informative presentation.
On behalf of PEO — Mississauga Chapter, we appreciated your time and your effort and once again thank you!
Regards,

– Katherine Diep Minh Hien, E.I.T

Thank you so very much for coming out to breakfast March 25 2008 as our guest speaker. We always try to keep them fun, casual and informative, and you certainly helped us maintain that objective.

– Ian Giffin, Uxbridge Chamber of Commerce

Dear Candace
Just a short note to thank you for providing your services as an educational speaker at our recent National Conference in Collingwood on the 17th of November. We found your presentation to be highly professional and very informative for the attendees. Sincerely,

"Thank you very much for your incredibly comprehensive presentation to
the Professional Engineers of Ontario, Toronto East Chapter. Your
presentation was one of the best we've seen. Thank you so much for
sharing your ideas and advice. Congratulations and thanks again!"

– Janet Dunphy and Paul Dunphy, P. Eng, October 23rd, 2007

On the evening of October 23, 2007, East Toronto Chapter, Professional Engineers Ontario had the pleasure of hosting a seminar entitled "Get the most value from your web site - what you need and what to avoid."
Candace was organized in her approach, thorough in her presentation and well versed in her subject manner. She maintained knowledge and aplomb in responding to the many questions that arose during her presentation, which queries ranged from the highly technical to the most basic.
I highly commend this speaker and this company to audiences both professional and commercial.

"On behalf of the Board of Directors, the Education Committee, and the membership of CDECA, I would like to thank you for your wonderful seminar presentation at our Professional Development Day on June 16th. The attendees showed their enthusiasm for your material with questions and with a positive response to the evaluation questionnaire"...

"Candace has a fresh and down-to-earth approach; and you can tell instantly that she knows her stuff and she is passionate about sharing it! Candace is especially effective and comfortable during informal, interactive sessions; offering easy to understand answers to questions from her audience!"

"We all enjoyed the presentation at BIG. We found the presentation fun and informative with lots of helpful tips. The presenter is knowledgeable, skillful, has a good tone of voice. Candace listens well and is able to translate complicated facts of the Internet to simple to understand language for the ordinary people. We appreciate her sharing valuable knowledge with us.

Back2Front manages our web site and we find the company offers efficient, fast service when it comes to maintenance. We have received many compliments about the design of the sight as well."

– Margaret Wong, President; Business Innovation Group

Our Speaker

Candace Carter

Candace is an artist, web designer, computer programmer, entrepreneur, writer, and a formally trained public speaker.

Candace was educated in Fine Art and Agriculture at the University of Guelph and in Computer Programming at the University of Ryerson. She worked in web development for such high-tech firms as Sun Microsystems, MCI-WorldCom, and Tucows until the high-tech meltdown in 2001.
Candace launched Back2Front - The Web Site People with a partner in 2002.

Back2Front's all-Canadian staff of web designers, editors, programmers, and SEO experts leverage the power of the Internet by working online from locations across the Greater Toronto Area. Back2Front is one of the most successful web site management companies in the GTA, providing long-term, ongoing web site management services for a large roster of business clientele.

Candace is an accomplished public speaker, with a friendly and knowledgeable style. Candace is a passionate crusader for excellence and value and it shows in her lively presentations. Candace is an expert in human/computer user interface, web design, and search engine optimization. The Back2Front team continuously conducts research, testing, and development that keep the company and Candace at the top of their field.

Candace is a graduate of the Christopher Leadership Course in effective speaking and has spoken to a wide range of audiences including: networking groups, private companies, professional associations, government and educational institutions.